COLLEGE FOOTBALL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Ohio State Dots the 'i' in Fiesta

By JOE LAPOINTE

Published: November 24, 2002

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 23—
In the gloomy glory of Ohio Stadium today, with 105,539 scarlet-clad fans on their feet beneath the menace of low, gray skies, with Michigan on the Buckeyes' 24-yard line and with one second left on the clock, Ohio State's free safety Will Allen approached strong safety Mike Doss and predicted the immediate future.

''If he throws it over here again,'' Allen told Doss, ''I'm going to pick it off.''

Sure enough, quarterback John Navarre of Michigan threw again toward the left side of the end zone for Braylon Edwards, who ran a slant pattern. Allen darted in front of Edwards, snared the ball on the 3-yard line and cradled it to the white No. 26 on his red jersey as he fell to the ground.

With joy and relief, the fans rushed the field with a roar that could be heard from Cleveland to Cincinnati and in every farm and village in between. The interception sealed an excruciatingly tense 14-9 victory over Michigan that gave the Buckeyes a 13-0 record, a share of the Big Ten championship with Iowa and the right to play in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.

They have not won the national championship since the 1968 season, under Coach Woody Hayes, and they won today the Hayes way, with a conservative mix of defense and running plays.

The best of the runners was Maurice Clarett, a freshman with a damaged left shoulder, who scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run in the first quarter. Clarett, who had missed two of the previous three games, gained 119 yards on 20 carries.

Maurice Hall of Ohio State scored the game-winning touchdown with 4 minutes 55 seconds left with a 3-yard run to the right after an option pitch from quarterback Craig Krenzel. After that, Clarett turned to Coach Jim Tressel on the sideline and said, ''Man, why does the clock go so slow when you're winning?''

On Michigan's possession before the interception, the Wolverines had first down on the Ohio State 30-yard line, but Navarre lost a fumble when tackled during a Buckeye blitz with 2:49 left.

Adam Finley kicked field goals of 36, 35 and 22 yards for the Wolverines, but Lloyd Carr, the coach, said: ''We knew as a team we were going to need a touchdown to win. We just didn't get it done. It was a heartbreaking loss.''

Navarre said there was miscommunication on the final pass play.

The Buckeyes have won five of their last six games by 7 points or fewer. Once again, they came from behind to do it, and the people here released their weeks of tension in various ways. Some sang the alma mater, ''Carmen Ohio.'' A few got doused with pepper spray by the police when they tried to tear down the goal posts. Doss, a senior captain, reacted in his own manner. ''I started crying,'' he said, ''and I prayed.''

Michigan led by 9-7 at halftime, but the greatest drama came from Clarett. After missing the first Ohio State offensive possession, he drew a buzz of anticipation as he trotted onto the field. He had missed last week's overtime victory at Illinois. The first time he touched the ball was on a screen pass for a 9-yard gain. Then he ran over right tackle for 7 yards and broke off left guard for 28, shifting and changing pace and making tacklers miss, until he was brought down at the Wolverines' 11-yard line.

But on the next play, after gaining 1 yard, Clarett got up from the ground in obvious pain and staggered to the bench doubled over. The fans gasped. Clarett spoke with a medical trainer and then took a seat on a small bench behind the rest of his teammates.

A few teammates came by to speak words of encouragement. Some patted him on the back, avoiding contact with the sore shoulder. Soon, more gathered and their body language showed increased enthusiasm as the Buckeyes drove down to the Michigan 2. Clarett grabbed his helmet, ran back into the huddle, took a handoff and went into the end zone to give the Buckeyes a 7-3 lead.

''I want the ball,'' he said later. ''I just want the ball.'' He said he wore ''about four gadgets'' under his uniform to cope with the pain, but he was not specific about their nature.

Tressel, speaking of Clarett, said: ''He was in a lot of pain. He knew what this game meant to his teammates. He knew what it meant to Ohio State.''

Clarett also caught 2 passes for 35 yards, including a 24-yard gain to set up Hall's touchdown.

In many ways, Michigan dominated the game, leading in time of possession (34:53 to 25:07), total net yards (368 to 264) and first downs (26 to 13). On third-down conversions, Michigan was 12 of 22 and Ohio State was 1 of 8. Navarre completed 23 of 46 passes, 10 of them to Edwards for 107 yards and 8 to Ronald Bellamy for 101.

But the Buckeyes stayed patient, smart, tough and confident. Their fans consider them a throwback team that evokes the era of Hayes's 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense, which seems fitting in this 80-year-old stadium with bench seats and no lights.

With their sport dominated by the West Coast offense and the defending national champions on the other ocean at Miami, the Buckeyes are retro-chic, a heartland team with lots of heart. At least until the Fiesta Bowl, they have brought the spotlight of college football back to the past, as the song says, back to Ohio.

Photos: Ohio State earned a trip to the national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl, and the Buckeyes' fans took a ride on the goal post after the 14-9 victory over Michigan. (Reuters); Ohio States Maurice Clarett scoring on a 2-yard run in the first quarter. Clarett had 119 yards. (Reuters)(pg. 1); Tailback Maurice Hall (finger raised) after scoring the winning touchdown. (Associated Press)(pg. 3)